


A True Understanding

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Fluff, M/M, prompt fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: Sonny's had one of those weeks, but Rafael knows how to help. (Prompts: Swimming pool; love letter)
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 40
Collections: Barisi Valentine Prompt Challenge 2020





	A True Understanding

Sonny drops hard on the bench in the gym locker room. He consciously breathes in slowly and relaxes his shoulders as he breathes out. The week's over. Finally. He feels like all he's done is run from One Hogan, to the courthouse, and then back again. Like all of his cases got maybe half the attention they deserved and a third of what they needed.

He's barely been home, and the only reason he's even at the gym right now is because Rafael had goaded him into it. 

"You need to relax and exercise," Rafael had said that afternoon. "You're gonna be way more ready to be lazy with me the next couple of days if you've worked off some stress."

"I'll be fine. I just need to relax."

"You relax by exercising, like a crazy person," Rafael had replied, giving Sonny a quick grin when Sonny gives him a tired look. "Go and swim. You'll feel better. I can spare you for another couple of hours."

Sonny gave up the fight. "You are entirely too good to me," he'd said, pulling Rafael in for a quick kiss. "I'll bring back dinner, okay? Least I can do since I haven't cooked all week."

"I'll order in," Rafael had replied. "You just go and get your swim in, okay?"

"Okay." Sonny stole another kiss and murmured an extra thank you against Rafael's mouth before grabbing his gym bag and leaving. 

And now here he is on the bench, taking a moment to focus on the task at hand--swimming; just some nice, easy laps--so that he can be in the moment and go home to Rafael available to fully focus on him just like he wants. He's going to lovingly bully Rafael into some intense couch cuddling while they watch a Jeopardy championship on Netflix. Sonny won't even pretend like he doesn't want to keep score, but he'll let Rafael be in charge of keeping track of which of them is winning at any given game. 

He'll stop on the way home and get a couple bottles of nice wine. A way to thank Rafael for helping him take care of himself. And maybe a bottle of champagne, too, to toast the end of the week and two entire days of just the two of them.

Sonny smiles to himself and nods at his plans. A swim to get him relaxed, and then a whole night of more relaxation. It sounds great. He pulls his swim trunks out of his gym bag and pauses when he spots a piece of paper that had been under them. It's a sheet of legal pad paper, and Sonny briefly wonders if he'd accidentally tossed in a page of case notes as he'd been packing his gym bag. 

He takes it out and unfolds it. It's Rafael's handwriting, and it's a note to him:

_Sonny:_

_I know how hard you work. I know how much you feel for every single case you take on. I know you want to come home to me and simply be with me whenever you can. I know that your work feels overwhelming sometimes, and I know--intimately--the mental and physical exhaustion that can come with being a DA, especially a new one._

_Take your swim. Enjoy the water. Come home to me feeling better because you're taking care of yourself. All I need is for you to take care of yourself and love me. You're unquestionably great at the second. Now, work on the first in the water._

_I love you._

_Rafael_

Sonny smiles at the note, then carefully folds it back up and places it in an outer pocket of his gym bag where it won't get wet when he packs his shorts again. He gets undressed and slips into his shorts, then locks up his gym bag and pads to the swimming pool. 

He pauses at the edge of an empty lane, rolling his shoulders and stretching up on his toes. He dives in, a smile on his face, making a mental note to find a time to sneak his own love letter into Rafael's briefcase for Monday.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a story about Ruth Bader Ginsberg that inspired this: Her late husband always wrote her notes on legal pad paper. They were both lawyers before she was a justice, so they always had legal pads around. I found that very sweet and wanted to use the idea in a similar way.


End file.
